As most of you who read this blog already know, I will not wear a face covering for any reason. I’ve stated this before on a few occasions and I have not altered my position at all: I will not cover my face.

However, as there is a good chance that the face-covering mandates will return at some point in the near future, I thought it would be helpful if I explained in greater detail my reasoning for my position. This information could prove useful to someone someday.

Note that my decision not to cover my face is less a decision than an adherence to scriptural guidance. It’s a decision only in the sense that I agree to adhere to the guidance set forth in scripture.

I am a born-again follower of Jesus. Being born-again, I’m in God’s presence 24/7. That means there is never a time when I am not in God’s presence, whether I’m awake or asleep, and whether I’m consciously aware of God’s presence or not. For a visual of what it means spiritually to be in God’s presence, go to Revelation 7:9-17. There you’ll find a description of genuine born-again believers forming what Paul in Hebrews calls a “cloud of witnesses” (note that all of the spiritual realm is part of that cloud, not just born-again believers).

Being in God’s presence, I have an obligation not to cover my face. How do I know that? Because Moses, whenever he was in God’s presence, uncovered his face. During the process of receiving the Ten Commandments, Moses had to climb up the mountain to be with God to get the Law. When he came back down the mountain, away from God, he covered his face (since the shining of his face frightened the people), but whenever he communed with God, he uncovered his face. You can read about this in Exodus.

Unlike Moses, I don’t have to climb a mountain or go into a tabernacle to be with God: I’m with him 24/7, through his Spirit. I am always in God’s presence; I am always before God’s throne. And being always before God, I’m like Moses when he was before God, and Moses never covered his face before God. He just didn’t do it. In not covering his face, he set a clear example of how we are to face God, and that is with our faces uncovered.

If you are genuinely born-again, you are like Moses communing with God. You are always in God’s presence in the spiritual realm of his holy mountain and holy of holies, otherwise known as the Kingdom of God: You are always before God’s throne. YOU DO NOT COVER YOUR FACE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD. It is just not done. Whether or not you choose to adhere to that guidance is up to you (you have free will), but I’d recommend that you take Moses as your guide, not someone who doesn’t know God and has never been in his presence.

The guidance provided by scripture regarding face covering is meant for born-again believers and for anyone who comes before God. IT IS AN ABOMINATION FOR A CHILD OF GOD TO COVER HIS OR HER FACE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD, and A CHILD OF GOD IS ALWAYS IN GOD’S PRESENCE, THROUGH THE POWER OF GOD’S SPIRIT. That’s what it means to be born-again. Genuinely born-again followers of Jesus enjoy the one-on-one relationship with God that Adam had before his fall, and that Jesus had during his time on Earth.

I am a born-again follower of Jesus.

As such, I am always in the presence of God through his Spirit, as Jesus promised his followers they would be.

I will not cover my face.